Establish Retention Programs First!

[Scott Clark]

Do you ever truly wonder why we can't keep volunteer's interested or active? We are always trying new ways to recruit people in to our organizations. But we never really seem to come up with any good lasting ideas to encourage them stay. They say the average span of service for a volunteer is about 5 years. WHY? Why only 5 years? We have tried the service awards programs and we have tried tax breaks. And these don't even really seem to help. Personally I think we are all missing the boat on this one. The best solution which is the cheapest solution but also can be probably the most difficult one for most of us to do is, JUST BE NICE! Treating people with kindness and respect is going to get you a lot further than anything else. Firefighters become inactive because their tired of the abuse and lack of compassion by their fellow comrade. I treat all volunteers with respect. As a officer I worked to make the firefighters job easier. I became a officer because I wanted too. So I never used my positions to punish the membership. If your an officer it's your job to work for the membership. The membership should only work for you during actual alarms. I have found in several cases that it is poor dictative management that pushes people away from volunteering. So ask yourself this question. Do I help maintain the membership in a positive way or do I serve as an officer to serve my own agenda?

[Tiger]

You've touched on one of the most important fundamentals of human relations: treating others with respect.

Even if members don't like each other, even if they can't stand to socialize with each other --- as a minimum, everyone must treat each other with the same level of respect you would offer to a complete stranger you're meeting for the first time.

In the fire service, due largely to working side by side under extremely stressful conditions, we use dark humor, ribbing and mockery as a release for the stress we endure.

Too often, we become too comfortable with each other to the extent that we neglect to treat each other with the same common decency afforded to first time acquaintances. Left unattended, this method of human relations can lead to bickering, spite, and a degradation of the department's morale.

It's up to the leadership to identify this problem in a department. It's up to every member to solve it.

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Tiger Schmittendorf
tiger@onscenemarketing.com
716/549-2885

[chiefnfd]

When it comes to retaining a volunteer, it comes down to: What do they get out of it. When I say that I mean in an educational way and an improvement of themselves. Basicly what can we do to improve or give the person, to make them feel good about themselves and the departments they serve. As a chief officer the big thing is to maintain harmony within the department and deal with people as people.

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Regards, Raymond Godfrey

[Scott Clark]

With all the problems we face retruiting and retaining personnel, I find it hard to believe that this is all the responses that any of these forums have received. This is sad. Is it we don't care what happens to the volunteer system or is it we just don't know what to do?

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If we stand united.... We will never fall.

[stone35]

Within our department I have seen good people come into the volunteer scene only to disappear without a trace. They may show up at the end of the month to do their 2 work hours for the month and their truck inspection, but that is it. From what I have scene it is because of the lack of leadership from the ones who are supposed to be the leaders. It saddens me when I see great potential and it is squandered away because someone does not want to do their job. This seems to be a problem with our department especially when it comes to training. The new guys need the training, and the seasoned fellows need to knock the rust off, but our leadership doesn't even show up to participate and support their own officers. I hope that things turn around or we will be huring when our next tone goes off and no one shows up.

[stone35]

Here is another blow to membership and retention. What do you do when you Chief is so burnt out that he does not want to deal with anyone or anything? This is a problem with out department at the present moment. It is killing us. We get down on our members for slacking off and getting sloppy, but what happens when your leaders get slacked and sloppy? I continue to do my best and do all that I can to keep myself and my brothers safe, but someone is going to get hurt. That is really going to make me mad!

[Tom Lafleur]

I've been a paid on call FF for 33 Yrs. Beleve me the pay is not what keeps me here. I think you have to have firefighting in your blood. I've seen a lot of newbes come and go,but i usually can spot the few htat will stay no matter what.You can get all the new recruites you want,give them the best training you can,and treat them like gods, but if they havn't got heart they won't stay.

[Darnell]

I think everyone that volunteers for an organization has a real interest in it, but if no one listens to their ideas & input why would they bother to waste their time with your organization? Even the newest members may have some really good ideas, so before you push them aside & say that's not how we've always done it here before, you should decide it's maybe time to change the way you're doing it & listen to someone new! Do you encourage your new members to take an active part in your organization, or do you just want extra manpower to get the job done? You have to seriously want "new blood" and be willing to let these people express themselves, you never know how many good ideas you might get if you really LISTEN & don't just blow them off as the "newbie" who doesn't know squat. This comes from first hand experience, I love EMS, but I have political burnout in less than 3 years on the service.....
God Bless

[Ltfireguy]

It's a sad day when we have a forum such as this and all it is used for is "whining"! We all know there is a problem with retention in the volunteer ranks, and every department has there problems. The real leaders of the fire service rise to the occasion and find solutions to issues, not cry about their problems or attack individuals. So lets figure out why we can't retain or recruit volunteers, then we can find ways to enhance volunteer programs. I have some theories why we can not retain volunteers on the west coast. 1.) Time commitment, it takes to much time from peoples busy schedules. Twenty to thirty years ago families were primarily single income, and worked in the same communities in which they live. That is not so in the 90's. Employers recieve no benefit from letting an employee leave work to help the his/her neighbors. The employee probably does not live in the same community. 2.) Both parents of children work and they are to busy trying to make ends meet and what little time they do have, they want to spend it uniterupted with there families. 3.) Federal and State mandated requirements. 4.) Career or paid personel. What I meen by this is once a fire house is manned 24 hrs. with paid firefighters volunteers feel they are not needed and slowly quit responding to the station for alarms. 5.) When volunteers quit responding on alarms paid firefighters start resenting volunteers because they call themselves firefighters but "never show up any more" this is usually percieved on the paid personel's part but it wears on moral.
So how do we correct this? Maybe some of you have different issues, but I am sure they are related.

[This message has been edited by Ltfireguy (edited May 28, 1999).]

[gregf]

What really concerns me when I think about retention, and general activity of the members of our department is training.

I know that a firefighter who doesn't train with the other members, or train at all, is not as valuable as someone who attends and learns while they are there. Maybe these types of members should not be members.

We are a small (700 pop.) community, surrounded by farm property and wildland. We also respond mutual aid to anywhere we are requested, but we don't have many alarms. When we do have an alarm, we may be a little shorthanded. To create the best odds, we have tried to recruit citizens who have occupations (farming, to name one) that keep them in or close to town. Sometimes this does not increase our first alarm personnel, but it is a good idea for our remote, small department.

A dilema ~ If we release the less active members, who tend to be in town most often, what do we do when we have an alarm? If one of the less-active firefighters responds, I know I have to be careful where I implement him/her because he/she may not be up on some skills, but can hold a hose and do several other things to help manage the incident.

Our department has recruited 8 new members within the last year. They are outfitted, have received pagers, etc., but 6 of the 8 are not receiving the training/exposure they need, because they do not attend. I believe the problem stems from the lack of alarms, and a general lack of enthusiasm of some long-time department members.

When the alarm sounds, and we respond, that is the "stuff" these new firemen look forward to. I would echo some comments made from a previous post to this topic:

1) Be nice. Everyone wants to be noticed. Every chance I get, I remind all of our members to say hi to a less active member. Try to create some kind of bond between all of the department, all are needed.
2) Get the word out. When I became an assistant chief, I began publishing a newsletter. It has become a task, but it is important to our department. I use this as a tool to create that bond - personal profile info in the letter about members, thanks to someone who has done something for the department, etc., as well as getting training information out in printed form.
3) Continue to make training a very positive experience. This will bleed over to the less active members when they see us out and about, as well as in association with active members.
4) Listen to the department! Not all of the suggestions will be implementable, but listen. If something does work, watch out! That particular member will be dependable, for a while at least.

These are just a few things we are doing. We didn't invent them, but we are using them to our advantage. Are these ideas working for our department? Not as quickly as I had hoped, but we realized there had to be a positive force for the department, and over time things are improving. What would be better for our department? A fire every one or two weeks to create that "need" to be a part of the group, because everyone would know that we were going to have a call, and say "darnit, I need to be prepared".

Greg F
Assistant Chief/Training
Newton Fire Department

[This message has been edited by gregf (edited May 30, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by gregf (edited May 30, 1999).]

[Truckie2]

Human relations are what it is all about. Treating volunteers with respect is key.

FDs are competing with other aspects of life for people's time so only the diehards will keep coming if they are treated poorly. It is just like job statisfaction; money, a co. car, jackets, and other perks just won't make-up for a poorly run organization that treats their people badly or like numbers.

It starts from the top with the Chief and other admin. First impressions last a lifetime. Officers must be on their best behavior at all times, even in the heat of the battle. It takes hard work just like anything worthwhile in life.

There are some very nice solutions and replies above. Keep them coming

[This message has been edited by Truckie2 (edited June 08, 1999).]

[Tiger]

Looking for great R&R ideas? Check out www.cybervpm.com (http://www.cybervpm.com)

This info applies to all volunteer organizations - not just firefighting.

Look for more ideas coming at www.onscenemarketing.com (http://www.onscenemarketing.com)

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Tiger Schmittendorf
tiger@onscenemarketing.com
OnScene Marketing Services
www.onscenemarketing.com

[JPerkMCFD3]

I think we all have stated the problem well.

I am a member of an active 4 station volunteer fire department in Central NY.

I'd like to hear about any programs that have been instituted that help overcome some of these inherent problems?

We have a LOSAP program, and are working on treating each other well, but there is a lot of intra station rivalry that has progressed to the point that long time members have left.

[S. Cook]

Here's a bonus the State of Texas is working on:

"The governing boards of the state institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by public funds shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory fees any person who is employed as a fireman by any political subdivision of the state or who serves as a volunteer member of a volunteer fire department and who is certified by either the Texas Commission on Fire Protection or the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas and who enrolls in a course or courses offered as part of a fire science curriculum."

The full text of the bill is here http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/76R/billtext/HB01788I.HTM

[FireMedic314]

Programs for the firefighter are good but remember "if momma (poppa) ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" Remember to plan family events that recognize the contribution made by the families of the firefighters. Once a spouse starts serious complaining about the time being spent away on calls, training, and meetings, the firefighter may start to lower the activity level and fade away. Do things for the family (or do what I did - wife son and daughter are firefighters and active)

Lt. Bill

[Tom Lafleur]

LOL Lt Bill.
Seriously, my dept. requires new recrutes to take FF1 and pass on their own time. If they can do that, they will usually stay for the long run. We've had a pretty good retention rate doing it this way. By the way Lt.Bill, I got my wife on as dispatcher,so she has to get up when i do.

[John Donahue]

I think your 100% correct, retention should be considered BEFORE you recruit anybody. I've seen 10 new members come, take the 180 hours of training and then fall through the cracks and get lost.
Its hard for a "new" person to break into the group. If they are not looked after and encouraged to come to the firehouse and partake in the activitys they don't and unless your a very busy volunteer department you see them less and less until ... gone.
I feel each new member should have an officer or senior firefighter assigned to them to keep contact and encourge activity on their part. And, the person can check and see why the new member has not been active before they leave.
This program should be in place long before you welcome any new people through the door.

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[Scott Clark]

I have found some startling facts! Actually not, it is something I have been saying right along. RETENTION FIRST! After surveying several new recruits I was reminded of something that I forgot. "What it feels like to be left out". When we recruit new members on board we forget to do something ......... "pay attention to them". New members are lost little sheep, they need guideness. They look to veteran members for leadership and support. It seems after we recruit them we give them their pager, gear and locker and say "welcome on board, your on your own". We have also been making the mistake of training them in fire activities first. We should train them in some basic fundamentals in first aid, CPR, auto extrication, fireground support duties, traffic and crowd control and basic outside firefighting. We tend to concentrate to much on interior firefighting. Start them off small and then work them up and in. Training them so they can help on the scene is a HUGE retention tool. Think for a moment of why you joined your fire department. You joined because you wanted to help. Well if you can't help, then I must not be needed! Making your recruits effective initially will give them longevity in emergency services.

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If we stand united.... We will never fall.

[craig7404]

Ditto to what Mr. Clark said in his last post. We had a couple members show up to all calls, training, and meetings for the first three months, then hardly every show up. I called them up and asked what was wrong, they said that they were not getting to do much on the fires so they quit going. Well as a commanding officer it was my fault because I would tell the experiance firefighters what to do and have the rookies watch. So I had to retrain myself not to overlook the rookies and now I try to pair a rookie with a vet. so the rookies can get the exper. that they need plus they feel more involved in the fire dept. It shows them that the training does pay off.


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Good Luck
Captain
Craig Lambert


[This message has been edited by craig7404 (edited December 11, 1999).]

[WTFD730]

We all know nationwide the volunteer ranks are down and continuing to fall in numbers. Our State Fire Marshall is going around the state and was just in our area promoting a statewide campain to encourage more people to volunteer with there local VFD. I feel its about time federal and state goverment really does something to help the cause and thats to give volunteer firefighters some type of tax breaks or something in that order to help recruit and retain memberships. Peoples life styles are more important to them than giving up time to be a volunteer FF, issuing some incentive financially may help. Its just an idea...but I think they should be doing more to help the cause.

Be safe !!!

Ronald Kay, Asst. Chief
Washington Twp. VFD
Toledo, Ohio

[This message has been edited by WTFD730 (edited January 02, 2000).]

[THEDEUCE]

One solution to keeping members who have been around in the 5 year range is to find an area they can be responsible for. As a chief officer I can not do everything by myself and I try not to micro manage. I have taken the most responsible people of our dept. who are not officers and assigned them to an area of the dept. to work in. For example I gave one young man the task of taking care of equipment inventory, when I need info. I call him and he tells me what I need to know. He feels he is a productive member and has a bit of responsibility. Of course you cant pick just everyone because many are not responsible enough to handle certain tasks. I have found that when the core of the dept. is active in the dept. then it rubs off on many of the less active members. It also allows me the time to take care of the things I need to be doing. I realize this is basic management principles but all to often the officers of the dept. handle evrything and the members only look forward to an emergency response and become bored. We cant do it all, lets find some tasks for the members to handle so they will feel like they make a difference. This will also allow they new members something to look forward to.

[RetFireCapt]

Having served in the fire service for over 36 years(as both career and volunteer), I have seen how the volunteer fire service has changed. When I first started the training required for volunteer's was minimal or nonexistent. However, to keep current certifications in fire or ems today, a volunteer (in most areas) has to meet certain criteria. This is time consuming.

When fire/rescue departments are recruiting, they need to be upfront about the time involved in being department member. I have seen many members who joined departments willing to respond to alarms but not realizing that there are requirements for training or exactly what the requirements were. When the fire/rescue department begin to interfere with the family or social life of the member, they had to make a choice. In most cases the family/social life came first as it should.

I once talked with a Chief of a large volunteer fire department in PA about his membership. I asked how many volunteers were in the department and said 60. I then asked how many were active and again he said 60. He said they had strong training requirements but felt that if a person wanted to be an active volunteer, the member would meet them. He also stated that the new applicants were told upfront what would be required of them. His department is still a strong volunteer department.

A second problem I see quite often, is people who join volunteer fire/rescue departments to use the experience as a stepping stone toward a career. This is not a bad thing if the person is also willing to continue to contribute as a volunteer. However, most of the time, the volunteer part does not last. Volunteer departments who provide the monetary support to train personnel should place a requirement to remain an active member for a certain period of time or reimburse the department for the class. This would do two things (1) let the member know that they may have to reimburse for the department for the funds ;or (2) let the member know that they have a committment to the department for a given period of time.

This will not solve the entire retention problem. But it will give both the member and the department a better idea of how long a member will be committed. This is even being done in career departments where new applicants must sign an agreement to stay in certain positions ie. paramedic for a period of time.

[Tom Carr]

I've read many articles about the problem of recruiting volunteers of all kinds. I'm also familiar with several organizations which have trouble recruiting and retaining volunteers for all kinds of roles -- not specifically fire-related; for example, non-profit boards, kids' sports groups, etc.. Everyone has trouble recruiting volunteers.

Many of the ideas above are very sound. But, I'd like to add one more for consideration. In addition to the stratagies mentioned above, why not re-think the roles you'd like to fill, also. For example, if a volunteer steps forward who may not have the ability to commit to the full-blown training program for a firefighter, do you just turn him/her away, or do you try to find a role into which he/she might fit? Does a person really need to know all there is to know about firefighting to run a pump, man a hydrant, operate a light plant, re-fill SCBA's, monitor/operate radios at a command post, etc.? Maybe not. If you get the person involved in a limited, specialty function, maybe he/she will free-up a trained FF for interior attack, or other service. Maybe, also, you'd find out that the volunteer "has firefighting in his/her blood" and he/she would shift priorities to be able to participate more fully.

I grew up in a city which was served exclusively by a paid, professional fire department. Therefore, I never had a reason or opportunity to volunteer. I recently moved to a town which has a few full-time paid FF's and a handful of call FF's. I read on the department's web site how the department would like to recruit more FF's, how the shortage of FF's was a problem, etc.. The web page invited people to call about volunteer opportunities. So, I called the chief to inquire. Our conversation was about all the reasons I probably wouldn't want to volunteer. For example, it takes too much time to train and serve as a call FF if you have any family life; there really aren't that many fires anyway; the department really needs ambulance coverage; I probably couldn't pass the physical test; etc.. mind you, this was a telephone conversation -- the chief has never seen me. After explaining why I probably wouldn't want to be a call FF, he went on to explain that there really aren't any other volunteer opportunities. They used to have volunteer FF's who would not be paid and would show-up when they could. But, the department had "weeded out" most of the volunteers who had been there. He finished by suggesting that I might call the police department to see whether they might be looking for volunteers!

I must say, I think I can see why he has a shortage!

Anyway, good luck to all of you who serve. This wannabe has his hat off to you!